Cars could be seen waiting in line at the College Park Shopping Center Starbucks (photo credit: Waymaking.com)
There has been some great progress in addressing the traffic backup issue at the entrance of the College Park Shopping Center caused by the drive-thru customers at the Starbucks.
The backup often blocks the right lane of the westbound Cherry Hill Road, causing safety issues for vehicles turning right from Route 1 onto Cherry Hill Road.
This issue has been affecting many College Park residents, for many years, possibly since the Starbucks opened here in this shopping complex.
The City Council discussed the issue last October when representatives from the County came before the Council to discuss some initial design ideas to improve the Cherry Hill Road and Route 1 intersection. At that meeting, the Council asked staff from the City and County to work with Starbucks and the Michaels Company (the shopping complex management group) to address this ongoing problem.
Since then, the group has been meeting to address this ongoing issue. Based on their work, here are the main highlights of the improvements that we can expect in the future.
- The County has agreed to design roadway features with a tar & chip surfacing contractor to improve the traffic safety of Cherry Hill Road at the driveway entrance with Michaels Company consensus. The County indicated that this project could be constructed in late summer or early fall of this year if everything falls into place.
- Starbucks would like to complete its drive-through and building remodeling this coming fall.
- Starbucks asked the County to assist them with the DPIE permitting process. The County and City agreed to assist as best they can.
- The State has given the County feedback on alternatives for Right of Way and extension of a Median on Cherry Hill Road. Please note the County owns and maintains Cherry Hill road and the State of Maryland (SHA) owns and maintains Route 1.
Please note that Michaels and Starbucks have not submitted an application to the County for the Site Plan approval. Therefore, it’s a little early to estimate a time for project completion.
I want to thank our City staff for their hard work in making this much-needed collaboration happen.
Mary A Hartnett
Obviously a profitable site for this store if there are plans to upgrade. Could it relocate to the far end of the strip it is in? This could cause a line of cars to form in front of other stores or perhaps the line could go behind the strip of stores and exit to a left turn in front of the store?
Michelle
They need to work on stopping the traffic from people turning onto Rte1 from Cherry Hill Road. Those cars usually block cars turning from Baltimore Avenue onto Cherry Hill Rd.
Please address this issue.